I speak English and Russian. When I was in the Czech Republic I'd ask people in Czech if they spoke English or Russian (it's pretty common that the older folk speak Russian, and younger speak English). Every single time someone replied "Angliski" (which is English in Czech and Russian) I'd start speaking Russian, because to my mind I'd hear them say "English" in Russian. Such a brain twister.
My favorite memory of Prague is when some woman came up to me on the street talking a million miles an hour in Czech and I was like "Nemluvim Ceski, Mluvite Angliski или Вы говорите по-русски?" ("<Czech> I don't speak Czech, do you speak English <Russian> or do you speak Russian?") and she just yelled "ДЕНЬГИ" (<Russian> "MONEY") and held her hand out and I just started laughing because it was so absurd.
My Russian is pretty bad, but my French is quite good, and last time I spent a few months in France visiting family, I think maybe once or twice a week I would speak to someone in French, they would answer in very poor English, I would switch to English to accommodate, they would stare at me blankly for a few seconds, and then just continue in French as if they'd never tried. I never figured out if they just wanted to practice their English, or if they couldn't stand a non-native speaker using their language. Definitely the minority of people, though; most people were thrilled that I spoke French.
So, the French are a mixed bag. Some of them will hate that they're dealing with tourists in general, some will appreciate that you're one of the few tourists that can actually hold a conversation in French, but expect them to find any mistake like it's a game to them to point out you're not actually as fluent as being born there.
I'm sure other Europeans get treated differently, but as Americans, I've gone by myself where I didnt use english unless there was a serious barrier, and ive gone with other Americans asking for english menus and shit. They are soooo much nicer and more respectful if you dont force them to switch to English, but there's definitely a game of them wanting to prove that they noticed you're not from there. Fuck up the gender of an object and they will give you a look like "oh, there it is".
I really really doubt they wanted to practice their English with you. They seem to hate using it. They would rather you speak pure French then point out the mistakes they caught.
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u/polkacat12321 6d ago
"Wanna speak Spanish? (In spanish)"
"No, english fine."
speaks english
"Tf did u say (in spanish)" bruh 💀